


A Little Observation

by completelyhopeless



Series: Persuaded Universe [7]
Category: DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 12:29:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3978079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/completelyhopeless/pseuds/completelyhopeless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Selena is cat-like observant and notices things about her brother Richard and sets to make them right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Observation

**Author's Note:**

> I do adore the movie adaptation of this book, and I like Anne's friendship with the Crofts, but I could not help thinking that Anne betrays herself so much in the movie and no one seems to see it. Since in this story Mrs. Croft is Mrs. Wayne, is Selena Kyle, Catwoman, there's no way she would have missed it.
> 
> Poor choice for my first real attempt at writing Selena, but I discussed this with CaraLee a while back and I am trying to get some fanfic done, so I went for it anyway.

* * *

_“I hope that they are as little familiar with the business as my own people seem to be.”_ —Anne Elliot, _Persuasion_ (1995 Film Adaptation)

* * *

Selena had not escaped the guillotine by being a fool. She could play at one expertly, and she did so when the occasion called for it, letting her feigned ignorance allow her to gather intelligence or preserve the peace, but she was not stupid. She was more than merely pretty, and she knew if she had not been, she would not have survived either the reign of terror or being married to Bruce Wayne.

She knew the world well. She adapted to all parts of it, from poverty and tribulation as a circus act to the sea and the life of an admiral's wife. She knew all of that, and she also knew her kittens. She knew what she was seeing in Richard, the poorly concealed misery that everyone seemed to miss—everyone except Bruce, perhaps, but he was not the sort to talk to his brother about it and confront the issue, no, of course not.

It fell to her to do that, and she knew it was better that it did, but it was no easy task and not the most welcome. Richard refused to admit to his unhappiness and claimed to enjoy himself, but only a fool would accept that. Richard was not the sort of man to enjoy false praise and if years of her praise had not gone to his head, then why should these people's? Why should any of them change him so thoroughly, even one of those girls who seemed determined to win his heart?

Selena knew Richard had a past here, knew that he'd been happy and enjoyed himself in Roy's company—she had half a mind to send him off to do so again—but something had gone wrong. Something was amiss, and she only need watch Richard for a moment to know it. She could not ignore it, even if he seemed to think she should and perhaps she even wanted to at times.

Suspicions formed in her mind as she watched her brother stumble about this society and pretend he was enjoying it. The last piece was in place when they found him walking with the Dents and Miss Gordon. Selena had seen some minor exchanges between the two of them in the past, things that could have been dismissed—short glances, it did seem that Miss Gordon was on the quiet and reserved side—and a few blushes, not uncommon in Richard's company or Bruce's—but Richard asking her to take Barbara back in the carriage with them because she was so obviously tired was just what Selena needed.

Her brother cared about this one, much more than he did the one he seemed to be courting. The past suddenly seemed clear. If this girl had been foolish enough to reject Richard, well, then, the least Selena owed her was an uncomfortable carriage ride.

* * *

“I think my brother is set to make a very foolish match,” Selena said. “Why, any girl from fifteen to thirty might have him for the taking. A little flirting, a few flattering remarks about the navy, and he is a lost man...”

Gordon's face betrayed her discomfort at that thought, but she buried it quickly and tried to turn away, keeping her thoughts to herself. Selena watched her and reconsidered. Perhaps she was right about the girl rejecting Richard, but if she had, she did seem to regret it now, and Selena's words were causing her pain.

“Do you not agree, Miss Gordon?”

“I... I could not say what your brother thinks,” the girl answered, swallowing down something she might have said. “I... I hope he makes the right choice for him, though. That he does not... That he doesn't rush to attachment and find it lacking later.”

“You think my brother inconstant?”

“Oh, I would not insult your brother that way but I—I fear we all know so little of our own minds and our own feelings that we might confuse them and make the wrong choice, only to repent of it when it is too late and cannot be undone.”

Selena watched her. “Do you speak from experience?”

Gordon flushed. “I... I made a poor choice years ago, yes, and I do regret it, but it was mine and I accept the consequences of it. Oh, there is the house. Please excuse me. It was very kind of you to give me a ride—my legs did not seem to want to go another step—but I must go and rest now.”

She almost fled the carriage, and Selena sat back, folding her hands together.

“I know that look,” Bruce said. “What are you scheming now?”

“Did you know Richard is in love with her?”

“What? I thought you said he was interested in Darcy—”

“He tries to be, and I think he might convince himself someday that he is, but that Gordon girl got to him first, and he still cares about her,” Selena said, tapping her fingers together. “Moreover, I think she still cares about him. The trouble is going to be getting either of them to admit it.”

Bruce grunted. “You aren't helping them if you meddle in this.”

“Richard is nearly as stubborn as you are, and if I do not interfere, they may both make themselves horribly miserable. I see no reason to let that happen. There are things about Gordon that are likeable, she is a capable sort and much less flighty than her sisters, but I fear she is just as stubborn as Richard is, and we shall not see them resolve this matter themselves.”

Bruce took her hand, and Selena thought she'd found a side bonus to her meddling—if Bruce saw fit to try and distract her, she was going to enjoy this very, _very_ much.


End file.
